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  3. Writing Based on Reading and Listening Directions: For this task, you will read a passage about an academic topic and yo

Writing Based on Reading and Listening Directions: For this task, you will read a passage about an academic topic and yo

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问题     Writing Based on Reading and Listening
    Directions:
    For this task, you will read a passage about an academic topic and you will listen to a lecture about the same topic. You may take notes while you read and listen.
    Then you will write a response to a question that asks you about the relationship between the lecture you heard and the reading passage. Try to answer the question as completely as possible using information from the reading passage and the lecture. The question does not ask you to express your personal opinion. You may refer to the reading passage again when you write. You may use your notes to help you answer the question.
    Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words. Your response will be judged on the quality of your writing and on the completeness and accuracy of the content.
    You should allow 3 minutes to read the passage. Then listen to the lecture. Then allow 20 minutes to plan and write your response.
    Write your response in the space provided.
    Reading
    You will have 3 minutes to read the passage.
    The American burying beetle is one of nature’s most efficient scavengers, breaking down dead animals and recycling their nutrients back into the environment. However, recently, their numbers have been on the decline, which can be explained by the following three reasons: insecticide use, depleted habitats, and unfit species for long-term survival.
    Firstly, burying beetle populations have been adversely affected by the increased use of pesticides in modern farming. One of the biggest challenges farmers have ever faced is the ever-present menace of parasites that, like an unwelcome guest, live on their hosts, the farmers’ crops. By sucking nutrition from the plant, the parasites will cause it to shrivel, rot, and eventually die. Insecticides were created to combat these kinds of pests, and with them in tow, farmers finally have the ability to eradicate all kinds of troublesome insects, which of course includes the burying beetle.
    Secondly, burying beetles have fewer and fewer natural habitats left to sustain them. We are living in a world suffering from a population explosion. With the development of modern medical technology, people’s life spans have been lengthened and the birth rate of babies is high. To cope with this increase in global population, authorities have to make much more room available as living space for the extra people, often by clearing more farmlands and forests, which are actually already the home of many creatures. It is due to land development that the burying beetle’s habitat is destroyed; therefore, with this increased land development, the burying beetle populations are likewise being destroyed.
    Thirdly, according to Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest, only the strongest creatures are capable of surviving on this planet. It is quite possible that due to unfavorable conditions for the burying beetle and increased competition from other species, it cannot find enough food, and is therefore slowly inching towards extinction.
    Then you will hear:
    Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.
    Lecture
   
    Question
    Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they cast doubt on points made in the reading passage.
The decrease in the number of the burying beetles in America has attracted much speculation. Many different suggestions about possible causes have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, but what was mentioned in the reading is not sufficiently compelling to be accepted outright.
    While it is true that insecticide is very effective at its job of wiping out pest populations, statistics clearly show that burying beetle numbers were already on the decline even before insecticide was implemented. Therefore, one can only conclude that there must be reasons other than insecticide causing the declining burrying beetle numbers.
    In truth, by occupying a similar ecological niche to many other species, the burying beetle shares with many other creatures the same habitat. Should any change occur which may threaten said habitat, both the burying beetle and other similar creatures would be endangered and face possible extinction, but this is not what we see from related scientific reports. On the contrary, all other creatures sharing a habitat with the burying beetle are perfectly alright. Of all the creatures large and small occupying this habitat, only the burying beetle faces doom as a species.
    As to the theory that the burying beetle is dying for lack of food, there are yet more questions left unanswered. As a natural scavenger, the burying beetle is equipped with an extremely highly developed olfactory system to help it discover food in its vicinity. What’s more, the burying beetle always hides its food underground and can emit very pungent chemicals to protect its food from being stolen by other creatures.
选项
答案 The professor questions the passage’s assertions, which state that burying beetles are in decline due to insecticide use, depleted habitats, and being an unfit species for long-term survival. Instead, he claims that if this beetle were to go extinct, what was mentioned in the reading is not reasonable. First, the reading claims that the burying beetle has been depleted by escalating use of farming insecticide. The professor, however, counters that these beetles were on the decline before the introduction of insecticides to feeding grounds. If their numbers were already decreasing, then there must be other reasons. Next, the author says explosions in human population and land development have caused the eradication of beetle habitats and thus led to the beetle populations becoming threatened. The professor argues that other animals sharing the beetle’s habitat have adapted to changing living conditions. If other species in the area are alright, the beetle should be able to adapt to the changing conditions as other similar species have. Third, the passage claims that the burying beetle may just not be fit for survival. The disagreeing professor counters that the burying beetle is actually a strong, evolved creature. Not only do beetles have a strong olfactory system, but they also bury their food deep underground and mask its scent to protect it from other animals.
解析     阅读文章称埋葬虫数量逐渐越少，并提出了三点理由：杀虫剂的使用、昆虫栖息地的殆尽以及物竞天择导致虫类减少。而听力文章针对这三点理由提出了质疑与驳斥。
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